Creative Nonfiction #68: “Risk” explores how we balance the threat of loss against the promise of gain. Writers recall the thrill and terror of going off the high-dive and skiing alone in avalanche country (which one really shouldn’t do). They impulsively invite famous chefs over for dinner, set off on poorly planned road trips, and weigh the advantages of medicating their children.

Plus, the role of litmags in the Trump era; how to “get naked” on the page; lessons from John McPhee; tiny truths; and more.

Heidi McKinley

Suzanne Roberts

Edited by Lee Gutkind

Addressing bipolar disorder, OCD, trichotillomania, self-harm, PTSD, and other diagnoses, these original true stories vividly depict the difficulties and sorrows--and sometimes, too, the unexpected and surprising rewards--of living with mental illness.
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In Greek mythology, a sip from the River Lethe offers oblivion to newly-perished souls. Braiding the story of her parents’ whirlwind romance and memories from her troubled childhood, Leanna James Blackwell considers the lure of forgetting.